DERA Selects Applied Materials' Epi Centura for SiGe Applications; Industry-Leading Epi Technology Enables Rapid Development of Higher-Speed, Lower-Power Devices
DERA's SiGe development effort is driven by a growing number of communications and information handling applications that require higher-performance, lower-power electronic components. Silicon germanium, an emerging technology, enables the formation of significantly faster, more power-efficient transistors. A practical, less costly alternative to gallium arsenide (GaAs), SiGe is fully compatible with current silicon manufacturing technology and requires minimal new investment.
"Acquiring the Epi Centura is part of our plan to move into the semiconductor marketplace," said Dr. David Robbins, a Senior Fellow of DERA. "Silicon germanium technology is a key part of this initiative because it is ideal for building many of the chips used in advanced communications applications. The Epi Centura will provide the enabling ultra-low pressure, low-temperature epi processes required for our SiGe development activities and gives us the opportunity to work with Applied Materials."
Grant Imper, General Manager of Applied Materials' Epi Division, commented, "The Epi Centura system is optimized to enable the rapid development and manufacture of SiGe-based devices. The system achieves this by providing an advanced low-pressure architecture, precise temperature control and excellent particle performance. We're pleased that DERA has selected our epi technology for their SiGe applications and look forward to working with them in their efforts to advance this technology."
The Epi Centura, launched in 1993, is the industry's leading system for silicon epitaxial deposition. Through its continuous improvement program, Applied Materials has consistently innovated its technology to provide customers with the most advanced and cost effective epitaxial solutions. This strategy has enabled the company to achieve approximately 57 percent of the epitaxial deposition market in 1997, according to Dataquest, a market research firm.
DERA is an agency of the U.K. Ministry of Defense, and is one of Europe's largest single research organizations with an annual revenue exceeding $1 billion. DERA offers a range of consultancy and research services, and its 12,000 staff members include many internationally-acclaimed scientists. The DERA web site is http://www.dera.gov.uk.
Applied Materials, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global growth company and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol "AMAT". Applied Materials' web site is http://www.AppliedMaterials.com.